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UNITED    STATES    FOOD    ADMINISTRATION 

JUNE  19  18 


DAIRY  an d  the  , 

WORLD  FOOD  PROBLEM      ' 


IT  is-  the  duty  of  the  Government,  just  as  far  as  we  are  able,  to 
'  maintain  economic  equilibrium  in  the  dairy  industry;  but  should 
the  impact  of  war  so  dislocate  the  industry  as  to  cause  temporary 
periods  when  loss  faces  you,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  dairyman  to  stand 
by — with  that  courage  which  comes  from  the  knowledge  that  he  is  a 
pert  of  the  world's  reserve  army  that  may,  at  any  moment,  be  called 
into  battle  for  our  existence  and  the  existence  of  the  next  generation 


ADDRESS  BY 

HERBERT  HOOVER 

UNITED    STATES   FOOD   ADMINISTRATOR 

at  the 

NATIONAL  MILK  AND  DAIRY  FARM  EXPOSITION 

NEW    YORK    CITY 

MAY  23,  1918 


F 

WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1918 


i 


► 


OT 


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THE  DAIRY  AND  THE  WORLD  FOOD  PROBLEM. 


Upon  the  dairy  industry  rests  a  great  part  of  the  responsibility 
for  keeping  the  world  alive  during  this  war  and  renewing  its  vitality 
after  the  war;  from  the  dairymen  of  this  country  is  required  a  service 
that  they  are  morally  drafted  to  fulfill.  How  this  has  come  about  in 
the  world  situation  of  the  dairy  industry  I  wish  to  discuss  with  you. 

If  you  could  stand  in  the  middle  of  Germany  to-day  and  survey 
the  land  to  the  borders  of  Europe  you  would  discover  its  whole 
population  of  400,000,000  human  beings  short  of  food.  Where 
Germany  has  overrun  its  borders  millions  of  people  in  Poland,  Fin- 
land, Serbia,  Armenia,  and  Russia  are  actually  dying  of  starvation, 
and  other  millions  are  suffering  from  undernutrition.  Still  others 
of  these  millions  outside  the  German  lines — that  is,  our  allies  and 
neutrals — are  living  on  the  barest  margins  that  will  support  life 
and  strength. 

GERMANY'S  TOLL  OF  STARVATION. 

This,  the  most  appalling  and  dreadful  thing  that  has  come  to 
humanity  since  the  dawn  of  civilization,  is  to  me  the  outstanding 
creation  of  German  militarism.  Yet  the  Germans  themselves  are 
not  the  worst  sufferers.  They  are  extorting  at  the  cannon's  mouth 
the  harvest  and  cattle  of  the  people  they  have  overrun,  leaving 
them  in  desolation.  I  am  convinced  that  if  the  war  were  to  cease 
to-morrow  the  toll  of  actual  dead  from  starvation  and  its  attendant 
diseases  within  the  German  lines  would  double  or  treble  the  5,000,000 
or  6,000,000  of  men  who  have  been  actually  killed  by  Germany  and 
her  allies  in  arms.  The  10,000,000  people  in  occupied  Belgium  and 
northern  France  would  have  died  of  starvation  had  it  not  been  for 
the  action  of  the  nations  at  war  with  Germany  in  the  maintenance  for 
these  people  of  a  pitiable  relief.  But  this  is  only  one  part  of  the 
whole  story  of  misery,  for  the  sinking  of  the  world's  shipping  is 
reverberating  privation  in  some  direction  into  every  corner  of  the 
globe. 

ROBBERY  OF  THE  INNOCENTS. 

Of  all  the  food  industries  of  Europe  there  is  none  which  has  been 
so   stricken  by  the  war   as  the   dairy  produce.     The   human   race 

64239°— 18  (3) 


through  scores  of  thousands  of  years  has  developed  a  total  depend- 
ency upon  cattle  for  the  rearing  of  its  young.  No  greater  catastro- 
phe can  happen  to  a  people  than  the  loss  of  its  dairy  herds,  for  the 
total  loss  of  dairy  produce  means  the  ultimate  extinction  of  a  people. 

The  German  people  supported  their  herd  by  the  import  of  feed- 
stuffs  from  their  neighbors.  This  being  cut  off  by  war,  their  prod- 
uce in  meat  and  milk  would  have  fallen  to  a  low  ebb  indeed  had 
they  not '  supported  themselves  to  a  considerable  degree  by  stealing 
the  cattle  of  the  populations  they  have  overrun.  I  have  had  Polish 
and  Serbian  cattle  in  German  pastures  pointed  out  to  me  with  pride 
by  German  officers.  I  witnessed  for  years  the  stealing  of  Belgian 
and  French  cattle.  In  Belgium  alone  the  herd  diminished  from 
1,800,000  to  700,000  in  three  months  of  German  occupation.  At 
that  point  the  protests  of  the  Relief  Commission  held  it  in  check. 
But  in  northern  France  absolutely  all  of  the  cattle  were  taken  before 
the  Relief  Commission  arrived.  The  French  men  had  been  drafted 
out  of  this  region,  and  there  was  therefore  an  undue  proportion  of 
women  and  children.  There  were,  in  fact,  over  800,000  children 
under  12  years  of  age  and,  in  addition,  many  old  people  who  had 
to  have  the  most  careful  sustenance.  One  of  the  first  duties  of  the 
relief  was  to  undertake  the  import  of  milk  in  order  that  these  chil- 
dren might  be  saved.  We  found  that  in  the  terror  under  which 
these  people  lived  the  average  period  of  breast  feeding  was  under 
four  months. 

We  have,  therefore,  for  nearly  four  years  been  sending  them 
American  condensed  milk,  not  in  single  cans  but  by  scores  of  thou- 
sands of  tons.  There  has  been  scarcely  a  child  born  in  the  north  of 
France,  and  many  in  Belgium,  whose  continued  life  has  not  been 
dependent  during  all  this  period  upon  American  condensed  milk. 
Every  American  would  be  thrilled  could  he  but  see  the  gratitude 
which  French  mothers  daily  express  over  the  pitiable  ration  which 
enables  their  children  to  survive.  This  stealing  of  neighboring  cattle 
by  Germany  will  now,  with  Russia  at  her  mercy,  go  on  with  an 
accelerated  pace.  Do  not  let  us  deceive  ourselves  that  any  shortage  of 
her  own  cattle  will  bring  the  war  to  an  end. 

BUTHLESSNESS  MENACES  US  ALSO. 

All  this  is  an  exhibit  of  the  character  of  forces  from  which  we  are 
struggling  to  purge  the  world.  To  do  this,  therefore,  we  must  con- 
cern ourselves  daily  with  the  food  situation  in  the  allied  countries. 
Our  obligations  to  them  are  not  only  as  a  matter  of  humanity  but 
as  a  matter  of  their  maintenance  in  our  common  struggle.  It  is 
worse  than  folly  to  put  5.000,000  of  our  boys  into  France  if  the 
civilian  population  of  our  allies  are  not  also  to  be  maintained  in 


strength  and  morale  with  our  food.    We  are  also  interested  in  the 
neutral  countries  from  the  point  of  common  humanity. 

The  allied  countries  before  the  war  supplied  their  dairy  products 
from  imports  as  well  as  domestic  production.  Their  imports  came 
from  Holland,  Denmark,  Siberia,  Australia,  the  Argentine,  New 
Zealand,  to  some  extent  from  Canada,  but  comparatively  nothing 
from  the  United  States.  The  exports  from  Holland  and  Denmark 
have  been  largely  cut  off  by  our  embargo  against  the  import  of  feed- 
ing stuffs  to  those  nations  in  order  to  prevent  their  also  supplying 
Germany;  Siberia,  is,  of  course,  isolated.  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
and  the  Argentine  represent  journeys  which  require  from  two  to 
three  times  as  much  tonnage  of  ships  as  do  our  own  market  to  bring 
the  same  quantities.  Dairy  products  still  flow  from  these  remote 
markets  to  the  allies,  although  the  transport  of  grain  has  been  largely 
abandoned.  But  the  growing  shortage  of  shipping,  the  increased 
demands  to  transport  the  American  Army,  might  at  any  time  ne- 
cessitate such  final  economy  in  shipping  as  would  drive  these  demands 
upon  us. 

ALWAYS  THE  SHIPPING  PROBLEM. 

The  shipping  problem  has,  however,  had  a  wider  influence  than  the 
jeopardy  of  direct  imports  of  dairy  products  in  its  effect  upon  allied 
supplies,  for  their  own  cattle  are  much  dependent  upon  the  import 
of  feed  from  overseas.  In  the  struggle  of  all  European  populations  to 
maintain  or  increase  their  bread  grains  in  the  face  of  a  shortage  in 
labor  it  has  been  necessary  for  them  to  diminish  their  production 
of  feed  for  their  animals.  By  the  destruction  of  shipping  it  has 
been  impossible  for  them  to  maintain  the  volume  of  their  feed 
imports.  In  order  to  reduce  this  drain  on  shipping  and  to  find 
immediate  meat  supplies  there  has  been  an  enormous  reduction  in  the 
number  of  cattle  in  all  of  the  countries  at  war.  Every  nation  in 
Europe  has,  however,  endeavored  to  protect  its  dairy  herd;  but  the 
reduction  in  feeding  stuffs  has  necessitated  the  placing  of  cattle  on 
rations  of  a  more  drastic  proportion  than  that  of  human  beings. 
The  result  has  been  that  while  the  actual  number  of  dairy  cattle 
shows  less  proportional  diminution  than  that  of  the  total  cattle,  the 
actual  reduction  in  the  milk  production  is  of  much  larger  propor- 
tions. I  doubt  whether  to-day  the  dairy  production  of  Europe  as  a 
whole  is  30  per  cent  of  the  prewar  normal ;  that  of  the  allies  50  per 
cent  of  normal. 

IF  THE  WORST  HAPPENS. 

In  consequence  of  all  these  forces  the  dairy  supplies  of  the  allies 
are  much  diminished.  They  have  met  this  situation  by  drastic  reduc- 
tion in  consumption  of  dairy  products  by  driving  the  fresh  milk 


into  the  hands  of  the  children  and  by  the  substitution  of  mar- 
garine for  butter.  Their  position  is  not  yet  acute,  and,  while  it  rep- 
resents privation  of  many  individuals  of  their  usual  food,  they  are 
sacrificing  it  willingly  to  the  common  cause. 

During  this  fiscal  year,  of  the  foodstuffs  imported  by  the  allies, 
approximately  50  per  cent  in  nutritive  value  will  have  been  supplied 
from  North  America,  50  per  cent  coming  from  more  remote  mar- 
kets. Before  the  war  we  contributed  probably  less  than  10  per  cent. 
The  shipping  situation  or  the  war  situation  might  develop  to  a  point 
where  all  shipping  must  be  withdrawn  from  the  long  journeys  to 
the  nearest  market — our  own.  If  that  became  necessary,  and  if  we 
could  supply  the  food,  the  allied  food-carrying  fleet  could  be  dimin- 
ished by  1,500,000  tons  and  still  feed  our  associates  in  the  war.  This 
contingency  may  not  arise ;  but  if  it  should  arise,  and  we  are  unpre- 
pared to  meet  this  demand  for  a  doubling  of  the  whole  of  the  food 
exports  from  this  country,  it  might  result  in  the  losing  of  the  war. 
If  these  ships  should  by  force  of  necessity  come  to  our  shores,  they 
must  be  loaded. 

RESERVES  AGAINST  INCREASING  LOSSES. 

No  one  knows  how  long  the  war  will  last.  If  we  are  to  win,  we 
will  with  four  collateral  weapons — men,  munitions,  ships,  and  food. 
It  may  require  years  to  win  it,  and  we  intend  to  fight  it  out  on  this 
line — not  if  it  takes  all  summer  but  if  it  takes  all  of  your  lifetime 
and  mine.  We  can  not  anticipate  that  the  animal  situation  in 
Europe  will  improve  during  the  war.  The  enormous  destruction 
must  go  on  until  the  end.  Through  the  whole  of  the  course  of  the 
war  there  will  be  continued  destruction  of  cattle  and  diminishing 
dairy  products.  There  will  be  steady  creeping  of  jeopardy  toward 
the  children  of  the  allies.  North  America  stands  unique  in  one 
great  particular  in  this  situation.  We  are  independent  of  sea  trans- 
port for  feeding  stuffs  for  our  animals ;  we  grow  them  side  by  side. 
Here  lies  the  great  economic  difference  in  these  foods  between  our- 
selves and  Europe,  and  here  also  the  one  reason  why  we  can  and 
must  be  the  great  final  reservoir  of  supplies. 

There  falls,  therefore,  upon  us  an  increasing  duty  in  the  provision 
of  food.  To  provide  supplies  we  must  build  up  reserves.  The  first 
reserve  in  meat  and  dairy  products  is  the  maintenance  of  our  herd. 
The  second  is  to  build  up  stocks  in  our  warehouses  in  seasons  of 
surplus  production.  If  we  can  maintain  our  herds  and  our  produc- 
tion we  can,  in  any  emergency,  reduce  the  consumption  of  our  own 
people  without  damaging  our  health  by  margins  of  such  an  amount 
as  will  provide  for  the  allies. 


FOOD  STORES  LIKE  AMMUNITION. 

We  are  to-day  in  the  season  of  the  largest  dairy  production  and 
we  have  a  minor  surplus.  I  do  not  look  upon  this  with  alarm,  but 
with  satisfaction.  One  result  is  the  increase  of  our  butter  and  con- 
densed milk  in  storage.  I  wish  it  were  larger.  It  is  a  factor  of 
safety  in  the  war  situation  that  can  not  be  overestimated.  We  must 
not  take  risks  in  war.  It  may  turn  out  that  we  get  too  much 
butter  into  storage.  But  a  general  at  the  front  who  should  find 
himself  with  more  shells  than  were  needed  to  win  a  battle  would 
be  in  a  far  different  state  from  the  general  who  found  himself  short 
of  the  necessary  amount.  Food  must  be  viewed  from  the  new  view- 
point of  ammunition  to  win  the  war.  Therefore  it  is  up  to  us  as  a 
part  of  our  national  food  strategy  to  accumulate  stocks  in  as  large 
a  degree  as  possible  for  any  emergency  that  might  come.  I  believe 
that  the  call  for  condensed  milk,  cheese,  .and  butter  supplies  for  the 
allies  and  our  Army  and  Navy  will  be  on  an  increasing  scale.  With 
one-third  of  the  world's  population  on  short  rations  in  food,  and 
most  of  this  one-third  with  less  than  one-half  of  their  normal  dairy 
products,  this  is  no  time  to  begrudge  the  minor  stocks  that  are 
accumulating  in  our  warehouses,  nor  is  this  a  time  to  stimulate 
unnecessary  consumption  or  waste. 

PROBLEMS  PECULIAR  TO  DAIRYING. 

Turning  for  the  moment  to  our  domestic  problems,  there  is  no 
other  agricultural  industry  of  such  economic  complexity.  These 
complexities  arise  from  the  fact  that  in  a  considerable  part  of  the 
industry  the  raw  material  in  feeds,  the  labor,  land,  and  equipment 
employed  are  by-products  of  other  major  agricultural  operations, 
and  the  commodities  produced  are  all  in  different  circumstances 
by-products  to  each  other.  This  complexity  is  again  confounded  by 
the  fact  that  the  by-product  is  different  in  different  localities  and 
at  different  seasons  of  the  year.  For  instance,  butter  and  cheese  may 
be  a  by-product  to  city  milk  production;  they  are  the  major  product 
in  creamery  regions. 

It  is  an  industry  to  certain  products  of  which  attach  a  peculiarly 
large  amount  of  sentimental  value;  fluid  milk  is  the  absolute  food- 
stuff of  our  babies  and  is  equally  a  necessity  to  the  very  poor  as  to  the 
rich.  The  consequence  is  that  a  rise  in  the  price  of  milk  may  pro- 
voke more  blind  and  fanatical  opposition  than  any  other  of  the  food 
industries,  not  even  excepting  bread.  Again,  fluid  milk  is  the  most 
perishable  of  all  the  food  commodities  and  the  easiest  subjected  to 
infection  and  adulteration.  It  is  an  industry  thus  susceptible  to 
an  extraordinary  degree  to  the  varying  economic  winds.    The  vary- 


8 

ing  production  of  roughage,  the  varying  prices  of  concentrates,  the 
lack  of  balance  in  prices  of  milk,  butter,  and  cheese  all  make  the 
dairyman's  life  an  exciting  if  not  a  merry  one. 

FOOD  CONTBOL  A  WAR  MEASURE. 

Prior  to  the  European  war  our  dairy  industry  was  practically  a 
matter  of  domestic  interest  only.  Since  the  war  there  have  been 
increasing  demands  for  contribution  to  the  world's  shortage  of  foods. 

This  is,  however,  not  the  only  pressure  of  war  on  this  industry, 
because  an  industry  of  so  complex  an  economic  character  is  pecul- 
iarly subject  to  the  shocks  of  commercial  dislocation  that  have  pene- 
trated into  all  quarters  of  our  national  life.  It  is  these  war  disloca- 
tions that  gave  birth  to  the  Food  Administration  and  it  is  with  these 
problems  that  the  Government  is  called  upon  to  deal.  I  should  like 
to  emphasize  this  point.  The  Food  Administration  is  not  a  busy- 
body, searching  for  opportunities  to  interfere  in  industry  and  trade. 
Its  sole  preoccupation  is,  so  far  as  is  physically  possible,  to  soften 
the  shocks  of  war  that  the  food  supplies  of  our  own  people  and  the 
allies  may  be  maintained.  I  can  perhaps  illustrate  this  by  a  review 
of  only  one  or  two  war  dislocations  which  have  affected  the  industry 
and  the  steps  taken  by  the  Food  Administration  to  ameliorate  it. 

DIFFICULTIES  OF  FEEDING. 

At  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  Food  Administration,  last 
summer,  we  were  confronted  with  a  price  level  in  feeding  stuffs  for 
animals  that  had  not  been  witnessed  in  the  United  States  since  the 
Civil  War.  HeaATy  exports  to  Europe  of  all  character  of  foodstuffs 
during  the  previous  12  months  had  drained  the  country  of  its  sur- 
plus production  of  food  supplies,  but  had  also  even  exhausted  our 
normal  annual  carry  over  from  one  harvest  to  another.  The  conse- 
quence was  that  we  entered  upon  the  harvest  of  1917  with  a  less  sup- 
ply of  all  kinds  of  feeding  stuffs  than  at  any  similar  period  in  15 
years.  In  fact,  had  the  harvest  been  a  total  failure,  the  human  beings 
and  the  animals  in  this  country  would  scarcely  have  survived  for  60 
days.  A  situation  thus  exposed  is  not  only  pregnant  with  speculation 
and  high  prices,  but  positive  national  danger  through  lack  of  sup- 
plies to  equalize  short  production  in  any  direction. 

WORRYING  THROUGH  THE  WINTER. 

The  dairyman  was  caught  between  two  forces — a  low  price  in  milk, 
held  down  by  inherent  opposition  of  the  consumers,  and  high  price 
in  feeding  stuffs  and  labor.  No  doubt  in  the  long  run,  if  matters 
had  been  allowed  to  take  their  course,  the  dairy  cattle  would  have 
decreased  to  a  point  where  a  shortage  in  milk  supplies  would  have 


9 

have  compelled  the  necessary  increase  in  milk  prices.  Some  day 
these  milk  prices  would  have  risen  to  a  point  that  would  have  again 
restimulated  the  industry  and  in  the  course  of  years  the  number  of 
dairy  cattle  would  have  been  restored  and  an  equilibrium  again 
established. 

These  are  not  times,  however,  when  we  can  run  the  risk  of  sap- 
ping the  root  of  our  production  and  await  years  for  its  regrowth. 
We  had  all  hoped  for  a  considerable  time  that  the  unusually  large 
promise  of  feeding  stuffs  last  harvest  would  result  in  decreased 
prices  in  feeds  and  that  the  dairymen's  position  could  have  been 
saved  without  material  increase  in  the  price  of  milk  to  the  con- 
sumer. We  Avorried  along  until  November,  when  there  developed 
so  great  a  car  shortage  by  the  war  demands  upon  the  railways  that 
it  became  evident  that  the  crop  would  not  move  with  sufficient 
rapidity  to  remedy  feed  prices  before  spring.  We  therefore  de- 
termined that  some  action  would  be  necessary  in  protection  of  the 
producer.  To  make  matters  worse,  you  will  recollect  we  came  into 
an  unparalleled  period  of  storm  weather,  extending  from  the  first  of 
December  until  the  middle  of  February,  that  further  paralyzed  our 
railways  and  created  a  situation  of  practical  famine  prices  of  feed- 
stuffs  in  those  parts  dependent  on  railway  movement.  Up  to  the 
middle  of  February  the  movement  of  corn  by  rail  had  been 
150,000,000  bushels  less  than  normal  and  of  all  other  feeding  stuffs 
correspondingly  less  quantities.  There  were  immense  stocks  in  the 
hands  of  our  feeding-stuffs  producers,  but  it  could  not,  through  rail- 
way strangulation,  reach  the  consumer.  We  had,  therefore,  to  suffer 
from  continuously  ascending  prices,  until  the  railways  were  able  to 
offer  a  freer  movement.  Within  a  month  after  that  wider  move- 
ment began  to  take  place  this  spring,  the  price  levels  of  feeding 
stuffs  began  to  fall  more  nearly  to  ratios  comparable  with  the  sup- 
plies and  the  outlook  from  noAV  on  is  for  more  reasonable  prices. 

METHOD  OF  ASSOCIATION. 

Here  is,  therefore,  one  issue  upon  Avhich  the  dairy  industry  has 
been  directly  disrupted  by  the  war,  and  if  avc  were  not  to  witness  a 
large  selling  of  dairy  cattle  for  meat  some  increase  in  the  price  of 
milk  AAras  vital  or  the  city  milk  industry  would  be  imperiled.  Pro- 
posals to  increase  these  prices  brought  about  conflicts  between  pro- 
ducers, distributors,  and  consumers,  not  only  of  the  most  acrimonious 
character,  but  in  which  the  law  was  in\Toked  in  various  directions, 
and  a  practical  deadlock  resulted. 

Furthermore,  I  had  also  long  held  the  view  that  various  associa- 
tions amongst  producers  were  the  foundations  upon  .which  a  better 
marketing  system  must  arise  in  the  United  States  in  the  interest  of 


10 

both  producer  and  consumer,  and  that,  growing  out  of  the  bitter 
quarrels  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  the  existence  of  producers' 
associations  were  being  endangered.  I  also  realized  that  any  in- 
crease in  price  meant  fearful  hardship  and  suffering  upon  some  sec- 
tions of  the  community,  and,  furthermore,  that  any  interference  with 
the  ordinary  course  of  trade  meant  a  series  of  incidental  reactions, 
all  of  which  would  be  disagreeable  enough,  but  yet  none  of  which 
would  be  so  disastrous  to  the  community  as  no  action  at  all. 

THE  CHOICE  OF  EVILS. 

In  other  words,  like  all  cases  of  interference  in  the  normal  course 
of  supply  and  demand,  it  became  the  choice  of  evils.  The  issues  at 
stake  were  not  only  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  feeding  of  our 
own  populations  but  the  broader  issues  of  our  reserves  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  allies.  With  the  view  to  securing  as  favorable  a  settle- 
ment as  possible,  that  should,  as  much  as  possible,  be  acceptable  to 
all  interests,  the  Food  Administration  appointed  commissions  to 
arbitrate  a  settlement  in  the  larger  cities,  these  commissions  em- 
bracing representatives  of  the  producer,  the  consumer,  and  the  dis- 
tributor. The  decisions  of  these  commissions  have  been  constructive, 
have  been  thoughtful,  considerate,  and'  I  believe  you  will  agree 
with  me  that  in  the  long  run  they  are  in  the  interests  of  both  pro- 
ducer and  consumer.  The  reactions  that  have  grown  out  of  this  situa- 
tion are  interesting  from  an  economic  point  of  view,  and  they  deserve 
close  observation  for  future  guidance. 

The  first  and  most  immediate  reaction  was  that  with  an  increase 
in  price  there  was  a  great  fall  in  consumption,  and  therefore  a  dam- 
ming back  of  the  surplus  on  the  hands  of  the  producer  and  dis- 
tributor. In  other  words,  the  poorer  sections  of  the  community  spent 
the  same  sum  on  milk  and  took  a  less  quantity.  There  was  thus  the 
heartbreaking  reaction  of  diminished  milk  feeding  of  our  own  chil- 
dren. That  has  been  more  or  less  overcome  by  propaganda  in  these 
sections  as  to  the  necessity  for  milk  for  children.  This  has  led  to  a 
larger  consumption.  I  am  informed  that  it  is  now  again  about 
normal,  and  we  wish  to  continue  the  insistence  as  to  its  superior 
value  to  all  other  foods  for  the  little  ones. 

Another  reaction  of  the  war  has  been  the  decrease  in  shipping 
space  that  temporarily  can  be  allotted  to  exports  of  condensed  milk 
while  the  transportation  of  the  American  Army  is  in  progress.  There 
has  been  some  damming  back  of  supplies,  but  we  have  taken  such 
measures  as  I  believe  will  prevent  any  great  damage. 

THE  TEST  OF  RESULTS. 

I  could  review  many  other  minor  incidents  of  the  dislocation  of 
war  in  this  industry,  but  these  will  be  sufficient  to  show  that  we  are 


11 

not  in  normal  times.  We  are  not  yet  through  the  war.  It  may  extend 
for  many  years.  I  wish  to  warn  you  that  unexpected  and  difficult 
and  disturbing  problems  will  arise  not  only  so  long  as  the  war  lasts 
but  probably  for  some  time  after.  These  dislocations  will  give  rise 
to  anxiety  and  criticism.  All  measures  in  their  amelioration  are  a 
choice  of  evils.  The  tests  of  capacity  in  administration  connected 
with  this  industry  must,  however,  be :  First,  has  our  dairy  herd  been 
safeguarded  by  reasonable  returns  to  the  dairyman  that  he  can  serve 
his  purpose  of  feeding  our  own  people  and  the  allies  ?  Second,  have 
the  allies  been  fed?  Third,  have  our  own  consumers  received  their 
products  at  prices  as  reasonable  as  the  situation  warrants?  Our 
herd  is  intact  to-day.  The  allies  have  been  fed.  Reasonable  returns 
are  being  received  by  the  dairymen. 

About  the  consumer,  our  authority  extends  to  his  protection  from 
profiteering.  I  do  not  believe  any  branch  of  the  industry  wishes  to 
profiteer  upon  this  world  necessity.  We  have  instituted  measures 
which  I  believe  have  the  support  of  the  vast  majority  of  middlemen, 
and  directed  to  make  profiteering  and  speculation  in  these  foods  by 
a  minority  impossible.  Nor  do  I  believe  the  dairyman  has  either- 
right  or  wish  to  receive  more  than  necessities  from  this  situation. 

You  and  I  have  gone  over  this  Nation  and  selected  our  strongest, 
our  best,  those  just  on  the  threshold  of  life  and  hope,  and  we  have 
said  to  them,  "Go  to  France.  Sacrifice  your  life  that  justice  may 
be  done  in  the  world,  that  those  of  us  who  stay  at  home  may  be 
free  men."  Have  you  and  I  any  right  to  say  we  failed  to  do  our 
part  because  some  one  did  not  pay  us  a  profit?  You  and  I  will  do 
our  duty  as  service,  not  for  profit. 

FOR  FURTHER  ECONOMIES. 

One  difficulty  to  both  our  producers  and  consumers  is  that  our 
marketing  system  in  dairy  products  is  inherently  a  wasteful  and 
expensive  system.  Our  consumers  need  relief  from  the  present  high 
price  levels  of  milk.  This  relief  may  partly  come  through  cheaper 
feeds,  but,  it  appears  to  me,  must  be  to  a  larger  degree  in  reduced 
cost  of  distribution.  It  is  a  matter  of  vital  importance  to  the  health 
of  the  children  of  our  poor.  The  enormous  duplication  and  waste 
in  present  chaotic  distribution  methods  need  no  detailed  description 
from  me.  They  have  been  ventilated  by  a  long  train  of  private  and 
public  investigations  and  by  the  distributors  themselves. 

The  careful  inquiries  and  decisions  of  the  various  committees 
which  we  established  to  arbitrate  prices  as  between  producers,  dis- 
tributors, and  consumers,  have  set  the  charge  for  distribution  at,  I 
believe,  just  levels  as  between  all  three  parties,  so  far  as  it  can  be 
done  under  the  present  system.    Yet  here  is  a  commodity  in  which, 


12 

in  New  York,  from  40  per  cent  to  60  per  cent  of  the  price  is  ab- 
sorbed in  distribution.  I  can  see  but  one  remedy  that  will  save  the 
position  between  all  these  vital  interests,  and  that  is  complete 
reorganization  of  distribution  methods.  These  are  matters  for  local 
initiative.  I  do  not  believe  in  Federal  paternalism.  The  interest  of 
the  Federal  Government  in  these  matters  must  extend  no  further 
than  assistance  to  remedy  evils  of  national  character  through  the 
incidence  of  a  national  war.  The  inspiration  of  such  reorganization 
must  come  from  the  producer.  It  might  be  said  that  the  consumer 
should  be  joined  in  this.  He  should  be,  but  I  despair  of  any  con- 
sumers' organization  getting  results.  The  producer's  whole  interest 
is  milk,  while  it  is  but  one  of  many  interests  of  the  consumer. 

That  something  can  be  done  is  evidenced  by  the  work  of  Prof. 
King  and  his  associates  at  Philadelphia,  where  the  producer  to-day 
receives  about  the  same  price  as  at  New  York;  yet  the  consumer 
secures  his  milk  for  from  1  to  2  cents  per  quart  less. 

The  distribution  of  milk  to  our  city  population  is  just  as  vital  as 
the  distribution  of  water.  To  have  10  independent  water  systems 
cumbering  our  streets  would  be  no  more  chaotic  than  our  present 
milk  distribution. 

PARAMOUNT  NEED  OF  HANDS. 

In  maintaining  our  dairy  herds  that  they  may  be  ready  for  any 
demand,  you  face  one  paramount  difficulty — that  is,  labor.  More 
men  will  be  drafted  to  war,  more  will  be  required  to  furnish  them 
munitions.  There  is  only  one  ultimate  solution  in  this  industry; 
that  is,  by  the  increased  efforts  of  our  men  and  the  addditional  efforts 
of  our  women.  Our  women  are  ready  and  willing  to  stand  with 
our  men  in  this  struggle. 

Far  beyond  our  domestic  difficulties,  however,  is  our  world  duty. 
Parallel  with  this  enormous  and  continuing  destruction  in  Europe 
avc  must  build  our  food  resources  so  as  to  stand  ready  for  any  de- 
mands upon  us  by  our  allies.  It  is  of  no  purpose  to  us  to  send  mil- 
lions of  our  best  to  France  if  we  fail  to  maintain  the  strength  of  their 
men,  women,  and  children  on  our  lines  of  communication.  After  the 
war  the  time  will  come  when  we  will  need  to  replenish  their  herds 
from  our  own  cattle.  This  United  States  is  the  last  reservoir  of 
men,  the  last  reservoir  of  ships,  the  last  reservoir  of  munitions,  and 
the  last  reservoir  of  food  upon  which  the  allied  world  must  depend 
if  Germany  is  to  be  defeated  and  if  we  are  to  be  free  men. 

OUR  FINAL  OBLIGATIONS. 

It  therefore  devolves  upon  us  to  maintain  our  present  great  poten- 
tial strength  in  herds,  for  they  can  not  be  reestablished  for  many 


13 

years  if  once  lost.  Not  only  must  they  be  maintained  as  a  guarantee 
to  our  allies,  but  they  will  be  vital  in  the  world's  regeneration.  The 
day  may  yet  come  when  the  child  life  of  the  world  will  be  in  your 
hands.  I  place  this  before  you  on  the  high  plane  of  service  to  the 
world.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  just  so  far  as  we  are  able 
to  maintain  economic  equilibrium  in  the  industry  so  that  it  can  go 
on  without  hardship  to  those  who  engage  in  it;  but  should  the  im- 
pact of  war  so  dislocate  the  industry  as  to  cause  temporary  periods 
when  loss  faces  you,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  dairyman  to  stand  by 
with  that  courage  that  comes  from  the  knowledge  that  he  is  a  part 
of  the  world's  reserve  army  that  may.  at  any  moment,  be  called  into 
battle  for  our  existence  and  the  existence  of  the  next  generation. 
Index  E— 40. 

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